Having fun going further than you ever thought possible
Deliverables
Logo Design
Design System
Style Guide
Tone of Voice
Experience Design
Product Design
Most of our best work has come from collaborating with people who are just really passionate about their work.
And The Edge are a great example.
Managing Director Makki and his friends have always been not just avid rock climbers, but also keen and vocal advocates for the sport and its benefits.
When the friends banded together and took the leap of leaving behind their day jobs and starting their own climbing gym, they were looking for a partner that could help them build a robust and energetic brand for their business.
Luckily, we were only one referral away.
"You develop traits that stay with you, that extend beyond the sport"
A journey of transformation
We approached this project assuming that we'd need to balance great looking design with conveying an air of safety. However during our research we spent quite a bit of time talking with the climbing sports community, and almost to a man (and woman), we were surprised to learn that safety was not particularly important.
What we uncovered was that most enthusiasts that enter the sport do so primarily because they're seeking two things; a fun time and a great community.
Not only that, but when asked what stood out most for them in terms of the rewards of climbing, the answer was, surprisingly, the psychological impact it has.
It turns out that not only is sports climbing bags of fun, it's also profoundly transformative.
Mind and body
It became quite apparent to us that climbing affects your mentality; you do become more confident, more resilient, and more of a risk taker. And over time those traits get carried into your everyday life, making you (mentally as well as physically) stronger.
Now all we had to do was figure out how to convey that in a visual identity design that would have a broad appeal and deliver the right message.
In the end, the answer turned out to be marvellously simple, and if we may say so, elegantly clever.
Graphically speaking
Every climbing session begins with instructors mapping out 'climbing routes' - pre-determined pathways up the wall (there are separate pathways for both amateurs and pros).
When we saw the maps of the climbing routes, we instantly saw the visual metaphor we were looking for - the map depicts the journey, beginning at one point and ending at another.
We used this to create a graphical device that represented the journey, with 'transformation' characterised by a gradient (the idea being the transition between colours represents the transition in mindset a climber experiences as they overcome more and more obstacles and build those character traits).
Graphically speaking
For the design system, amateurs and pros are each represented through slight variations in use of colour, typography, and the graphical device (which we nicknamed 'the cable').
For example, for newcomers and amateurs the cable is much simpler - signifying the easier climbing 'journey', whereas for pros the cable is more complex to illustrate more of a challenge.
The cable also works well integrated into photography of climbers, as well as posed models for merchandise marketing, adding a dynamic and energy to the imagery.
The tone of voice is playful, and sometimes a little tongue in cheek for the pro audiences, just to show how down to earth and cool the brand is, and the whole thing is wrapped in a pixel-perfect grid which harmonises the placement and flow of brand assets.
